It’s no secret that I’ve been anxiously awaiting the English translation of The History of Mario. The book was originally released in French back in 2011 and claims to give a detailed history of Mario’s origins starting in 1981 and his rise to fame through 1991.

So now that The History of Mario has been released in English, was it worth the wait? In short, yes. The book doesn’t merely start out with a boring description of Mario’s first game. Instead, it beautifully describes the situation surrounding the arcade industry and Nintendo as a rising global company. From the first chapter, readers will learn why Nintendo’s game Radar Scope failed to be a hit in North America, like it had been in Japan, and how this led to the creation of Donkey Kong, which marked Mario’s first appearance (and was Nintendo’s first overseas hit).

It’s from that point that readers will gain a greater understanding of how the success of Donkey Kong led to Nintendo having its first marketable characters and how this changed their business operations on many levels. Why Donkey Kong, who was viewed as the star of the game, fell from the leading role and how Mario was, though in some ways forcefully, pushed to a leading role.

The book continues by describing the development and influence of several Mario titles, most importantly Super Mario Bros. I say “most importantly” because I still feel this is the most influential game ever made. However, reading this book will teach readers what games influenced Miyamoto and Tezuka’s NES masterpiece!

Finally, the book goes through the creation of Super Mario Bros. 2 (The Lost Levels), Super Mario USA, Super Mario Bros. 3, and Super Mario World. Sadly, the book ends on what I consider a low note by describing the creation of, and subsequent failure, that was Super Mario Bros.: The Movie .

To say that The History of Mario only describes these things would sell it short. There is much more information within these pages and it’s not just about Mario. It really does allow the reader to take a glimpse behind Nintendo’s iron curtain and gives a greater understanding of the company during one of the most important periods of its nearly 125 year history. It’s for this reason that I don’t just recommend this book to those wishing to learn more about Mario, it’s also a great read for anyone interested in Nintendo history as well.

Despite my high praise, the book does have a few flaws. For starters, The History of Mario does have a European flair that is unmistakable. A few of the dates given in the book can be a bit confusing since they are European, but this only happens in a few instances. This is, however, understandable considering the book was written by a Frenchman.

The book also has a few typos scattered about. The worst offender is that a chapter title in the table of contents is still in French despite having an English translation when you get to that chapter in the book, which feels like a strange oversight.

Finally, there are few minor factual flaws that I found in the book. However, they are extremely minor and only someone as anal about Nintendo history as me would probably notice and care . I also found that one of the many images in the book, claiming to depict the Famicom game Devil World, instead is of a game that wasn’t even developed by Nintendo.

Even though there are some minor flaws, The History of Mario still gets my full approval. If you are a Mario or Nintendo fan you owe it to yourself to read it. You may know some of the stories mentioned in it, but The History of Mario lays it out in such a way that you will come away understanding the cause and effect of these events and how they led to other important moments in Nintendo history. It’s truly fascinating.

Those interested should definitely head on over to the publisher’s site and order the 426 page book immediately since the English translation is currently limited to a low print run of 500 copies. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.